September 7, 2018
Dear Kindergarten & First Grade Families,
This year we experienced an influx of kindergarteners during late summer registration and lower enrollment than expected in first grade. Because of the unexpected numbers in both grade levels, Ms. Alyssa Lazaro will move from teaching first grade to teaching kindergarten this school year. The kindergarten team of teachers will be Alyssa Lazaro, Juliet Shagoury and Mary Jo Stevens. The families of students who will be placed in Ms. Lazaro’s kindergarten class have been contacted. Our kindergarten class sizes will be reduced from 19 students to 12 or 13 students in each class.
The first grade team of teachers will be Mrs. Bonnie Bannister and Mrs. Sally Brann. The students originally placed in Ms. Lazaro’s first grade class will join first graders in Mrs. Bannister’s class and Mrs. Brann’s class. The families of students who will become members of Mrs. Bannister’s first grade class and Mrs. Brann’s first grade class have been contacted. Our first grade class sizes will increase from 10, 12 or 14 students to equal classes of 18 students. The MSAD 11 School Board class size policy recommends first grade classes at 18-22 students with a recommended size of 20 students. Classes of 18 students fall within this recommended range.
The new classes in kindergarten and first grade will begin their first day of school together next Monday, September 10th. Students will be met in the morning and walked to their classrooms. All students will be welcomed to their new class groupings and new routines will be established for the adjusted class sizes. Though this is a challenging transition having completed the first seven days of school, I am confident that our dynamic teachers will meet the individual needs of our students.
Please reach out with questions or concerns that you have at any time. You will find teacher contact information below. As always, thank you for your trust and support as we transition our young learners into new learning groups.
With great respect and appreciation,
Kady M. Gould
(K) Ms. Alyssa Lazaro alazaro@msad11.org
(K) Mrs. Juliet Shagoury jshagoury@msad11.org
(K) Mrs. Mary Jo Stevens mstevens@msad11.org
(1st) Mrs. Bonnie Bannister bbannister@msad11.org
(1st) Mrs. Sally Brann sbrann@msad11.org